10 Key Differences Between Online and Live Poker

Are you an online poker player considering playing live poker for the first time? Or maybe it’s the other way around? Sure, the game of poker itself is the same wherever you play it, but there are still a number of differences between playing the game live and online, that you should keep in mind.

1. Pace – Online poker is much faster than a live game. Online, there is no shuffling, counting chips, etc, as the software takes care of this in a moment. Plus there are shorter limits to act when playing online. If you are a live player playing online for the first time, the pace is a welcome change. If you are an online player however, playing live can lead to boredom, distraction, and generally loose play if you are not careful.

2. Variety of games – Want to play a $0.10-$0.25 Omaha Hi-Lo game at the casino? Fat chance of that. Online poker is able to take advantage of the huge numbers of players available, and offers all kinds of stakes and all kinds of games. Of pkv games bandarq online course, it depends on the poker room, and the network it belongs to, but generally there is a much wider variety of games and stakes online.

3. Exact chip counts – Exact chip counts online means it is much easier to get a handle on how much is in the pot, how much you have, how much your opponents have, etc. If you use pot odds and other calculations in your decision-making , this will be much more difficult to do in a live game than an online game.

4. Promotions – Online, you can find various bonuses, promotions, and/or rakeback deals. It is much more difficult for live card rooms to offer promotions as it is more difficult to measure the exact fees and rake players have contributed to the poker room.

5. Rake + fees – Live card rooms have to a lot of overhead, need to pay dealers etc, so the rake and fees in a casino or poker club are much higher.

6. Convenience – It is not always easy to make your way to a card room or pub poker game. You can play online poker from the comfort of your own home, and since you play with people from all over the world, you can pretty much find games at any time of day.

7. Analysing your game – In online poker, there are different types of software that record all your hand histories, and you can analyse your game as well as that of your opponents. Analysing your game in live poker is limited in what you can do, and much more complicated to do.

8. Social interaction – Live poker is a great social activity, and at the end of the day, even if you have lost money, hopefully you’ve had a bit of a chat at the table, and had a good time anyway. Although that probably depends on how much money exactly you have lost or won. The social interaction in a live game can also be a source of learning, as players often chat with each other and discuss hands that have just been played.

9. Tells – The human interaction in a live game mean “tells” play a bigger part in your decision-making. For an experienced player there are many subtle signs that can reveal crucial information, from body language to verbal tells, even to the clothes people are wearing.

10. Anonymity – The anonymity of online poker can be comforting. Generally you don’t have to worry too much about how you behave and what others may think of you, and if you have a terrible poker face, you do not have to worry about opponents reading you!